Will an F/X house's financial woes affect five upcoming films?

3 Days after winning a BAFTA award for its work creating the Bengal tiger in Life of Pi, the visual-effects firm Rhythm & Hues laid off about 250 employees and filed for bankruptcy. The L.A.-based company, which lost $22.5 million last year after a decline in new projects, had five big films in its pipeline. Thanks to interim loans of up to $17 million, R&H is moving forward on Universal’s R.I.P.D., starring Ryan Reynolds (due July 19), and Fox’s Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (Aug. 16). But Warner Bros. pulled its three R&H projects. A production source says 300: Rise of an Empire (Aug. 2) and Seventh Son (Oct. 18) should hit theaters on schedule. Another Warner movie, Black Sky, hasn’t set a release date yet.